“The person I’m about to bring out has been so incredibly kind to me over the years,” said Swift in her introduction. “This person is one of the greatest entertainers of all time … This person has been knighted.”

“I was at a meeting with the lads three or four days ago where everybody said, ‘Yes! We must go in the studio!’”, said Richards. “Where or when I can’t yet say but in the near future. At last I’ve got the boys wanting to get into the studio.

“They all have to want to do it at the same time. That’s the thing with guys - you can’t drag ‘em in at gunpoint - but I’ve got the message that they want to. I’m hopeful, y’know?”

The follow-up to 2005’s “A Bigger Bang” would represent the group’s second album in almost two decades as they have focused more attention to touring in recent years.